Press
Belarus crackdown highlights EU’s autocrat problem
12 August 2020
Financial Times
“The reality of EU foreign policy is double standards,” said Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform think-tank. “There should be more consistency — and more unity.”
CER podcast: A rigged election in Belarus: Can Lukashenka cling to power?
12 August 2020
Lukashenka has rigged his re-election as president of Belarus, and begun a violent crackdown on protesters rejecting the result.
Tate & Lyle: Brexit-backing firm that donated to Tories set to save £73m from trade change
10 August 2020
The Independent
“It looks like the government has granted them their wish,” said Sam Lowe, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform think-tank, on the new arrangements.
Brexit backers Tate & Lyle set to gain £73m from end of EU trade tariffs
08 August 2020
The Guardian
“This is all to do with them wanting to be able to import cane sugar more easily than they did before and it looks like the government has granted them their wish,” said Sam Lowe, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform think-tank.
Boris Johnson's trade deal will look like 'clean no deal Brexit' on Jan 1
06 August 2020
Express
Sam Lowe, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform think tank, said: “From a business preparedness point of view, for many companies, there is little difference between preparing to exit the transition period with or without a free-trade agreement in place.”
Why Boris Johnson’s Brexit trade deal is not so different to no deal
05 August 2020
Politico
“From a business preparedness point of view, for many companies there is little difference between preparing to exit the transition period with or without a free-trade agreement in place," said Sam Lowe, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform think tank.
CPTPP — as easy as one, two, three?
04 August 2020
Prospect
The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), a trade agreement between 11 countries including Japan, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, is all the rage in Westminster.
Small EU businesses voice ‘major concerns’ over lack of progress in ongoing Brexit talks
03 August 2020
The Parliament Magazine
Charles Grant, director of the UK-based Centre for European Reform, says the biggest impact of no deal would be “political.” Grant said, “An acrimonious end to the transition would hit economic confidence and make it very hard for the UK and the EU to build close cooperation on trade or security for years to come.”
UK faces paying for EU's huge debt mountain with new £160 BILLION bill
03 August 2020
Express
Commenting on the current Brexit negotiations, Sam Lowe from the Centre for European Reform said: "On Brexit and regulation, what government should be trying to demonstrate is that benefits to business of flexibility is greater than additional cost of businesses having to comply with two regulatory regimes (UK and EU) instead of one (EU)."
UK officials' new Trump dilemma: What if he loses?
31 July 2020
The New York Times
“In other words,” said Sam Lowe, a trade expert at the Centre for European Reform, “the chlorine chicken debate is here to stay.”
Brexit red tape reality dawns on firms bracing for origin burden
30 July 2020
Bloomberg Quint
Negotiators may propose that Britain joins an agreement it has with several other nearby countries, including Turkey, Switzerland and Norway, known as the PEM convention, where inputs are recognized as local between all the parties, according to Sam Lowe, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform. Joining would address some of the concerns of UK businesses, Lowe said.“The dream scenario is that the EU accepts the UK’s proposal, but that seems unlikely,” he said.
CER podcast: The EU's increasingly troubled relationship with China
29 July 2020
Growing economic tensions, COVID-19, cyber attacks, disinformation, intellectual property theft, a security clamp down in Hong Kong, treatment of the Uyghurs and restrictions on Huawei:
I'm optimistic about a Brexit deal – despite the gloomy outlook
28 July 2020
The Guardian
Both Brussels and London have moved in talks, and both grasp the political advantages of even a minimal free trade agreement.
Europe, the US and Huawei: Do hang up!
27 July 2020
Encompass
China and the US are in conflict over trade, human rights, cyber security and much more. Europe risks getting caught in the crossfire as the US tries to prevent the Chinese telecoms giant Huawei from dominating global 5G networks and China threatens retaliation against countries that shut Huawei out.
Boris Johnson veut-il sortir le Royaume-Uni de son isolement?
26 July 2020
Le Journal du Dimanche
"Theresa May était enthousiaste à l'idée de trouver un accord ambitieux en matière de diplomatie et de sécurité, rappelle Ian Bond du Centre for European Reform.
Boris Johnson's dream of a 'Global Britain' is turning into a nightmare
24 July 2020
CNN
Sam Lowe, a senior research fellow at the Center for European Reform, thinks Johnson and President Donald Trump could agree to a slimmed-down deal that "can be held up as a political victory on both sides of the Atlantic." But such an agreement won't move the needle from an economic standpoint.
Ten months to save the UK: Boris faces May deadline to defeat Sturgeon - warning
23 July 2020
Express
Charles Grant, Director of Centre for European Reform, said Number 10 “are worried about Scotland” because Nicola Sturgeon’s Scottish National Party could do “very well” in the May 2021 Holyrood elections. He said Unionists are “praying” for Prime Minister Boris Johnson to strike a Brexit deal to save the future of the UK.
Sky News: Post-Brexit talks between the UK and the European Union are still ongoing as deal has not yet been made
22 July 2020
“I don’t think we should rule out that there will be a trade agreement...we should take statements released with five months to go suggesting...talks have broken down with a pinch of salt", Sam Lowe, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Refor tells Sky News.
UK abandons hope of US trade deal by end of year
22 July 2020
Financial Times
Sam Lowe, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, said the idea of a trade agreement has “dropped down the government’s agenda” in recent months. He said it was “pie in the sky” to have ever thought the two sides could reach a rapid deal — unless the UK conceded to Washington on everything from agriculture and scrapping its digital sales tax, to giving the US what it wanted on pharmaceutical patents and procurement. “It was always hard to see the government steamrolling that through,” said Mr Lowe.
Fears EU-UK trade talks will bear no fruit until autumn
21 July 2020
Financial Times
Sam Lowe, trade expert at the Centre for European Reform, says not only would it lead to tariffs and quotas at the border but it would lead to wider complications to the post-Brexit relationship.“A free trade agreement increases the scope for bilateral easements,” he said, citing side-deals on issues such as financial services and data adequacy that would be easier to strike after a harmonious trade deal with Brussels.